Atlanta Braves’ Rafael Ortega follows through on a grand slam in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta.(AP Photo/John Amis)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Dustin May winds up during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger, right, celebrates his three-run home run with Will Smith (16) and Justin Turner during the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

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Los Angeles Dodgers’ Tony Gosolin pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger watches his three-run home run sail over center field during the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Atlanta Braves’ Max Fried pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Tony Gosolin pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta.(AP Photo/John Amis)

Atlanta Braves’ Max Fried pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta.(AP Photo/John Amis)

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. tosses his glove after losing a three-run home run by Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr., left, is out while attempting to steal second base against Los Angeles Dodgers’ Corey Seager, right, during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

The Los Angeles Dodgers look on from the dugout during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. dives to second base but is caught stealing during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019, in Atlanta. The Braves won 5-3. (AP Photo/John Amis)

May made his first relief appearance Sunday afternoon and gave up a grand slam to Rafael Ortega as the Atlanta Braves beat the Dodgers, 5-3, and took two out of three in the weekend series between the National League’s top two teams.

“This is something we didn’t expect to be seamless,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Give him an opportunity to learn, get his feet wet. As far as the makeup, Dustin is not going to make any excuses.

“I think it’s just a little of trying too hard, I guess. When you’re trying to overthrow the breaking ball and the arm doesn’t catch up or overthrow the two-seamer that just doesn’t get there … this is a learning process. My faith, my confidence in Dustin hasn’t wavered and Dustin is going to be absolutely better than fine.”

After three starts since being promoted from Triple-A in early August, the Dodgers decided to move May to the bullpen, partly to slow his workload (he has thrown 125 2/3 innings between the majors and minors) but also to evaluate his viability for a bullpen role in October.

Nearly all of his life as a pitcher, the 21-year-old May has been a starter. He made four relief appearances for the Dodgers’ Arizona Summer League team after being drafted in 2016 but had not pitched out of the bullpen since August 27, 2017 for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. That night, Adam Liberatore pitched the first inning on a rehab assignment from the Dodgers and May handled the next six.

“I would attribute it mostly to lack of command,” May said of Sunday’s trouble. “I was a little amped up, a little excited. You’ve still got to go out and execute. I didn’t execute very well, really any pitch.

“I’ve just got to get it in my head that I’m going to get the out in front of me, knowing in my head I have the conviction behind every pitch. It doesn’t really matter what I throw. I have to have the confidence and conviction behind the pitch to get the guy out. I had it. I just didn’t execute it.”

He came into Sunday’s game with a 3-1 lead thanks to a three-run home run by Cody Bellinger in the first inning,. Bellinger’s 42nd home run of the season (and fifth in the past seven games) just cleared the center field fence and was almost stolen by Braves centerfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. Acuna had the ball on the tip of his glove momentarily as he reached over the wall but couldn’t pull it back.

Acuna went all out on that play but was later pulled from the game by Braves manager Brian Snitker after failing to run hard on a single off the right-field wall.

Bellinger’s homer was the only damage the Dodgers could manage against Braves starter Max Fried despite putting 11 of their first 16 batters on base. The offense dried up after that. Fried struck out six of the last eight batters he faced and the Dodgers had just one hit after the third inning. The Braves’ bullpen retired the final 10 Dodgers in order.

“We had Fried on the ropes early,” Roberts said. “I thought we took really good at-bats, got a big home run from Cody. … Just putting at-bats together, building innings, we didn’t do that (the rest of the game). You have to give credit to those guys. They pitched us well.”

May came on in the sixth and got Josh Donaldson on a ground out but couldn’t retire any of the next four batters. A walk, single and hit batter loaded the bases.

“It was just a curveball that spun out of my hand,” May said of hitting Adeiny Hechavarria with a 2-and-2 pitch. “It was just really poorly executed – which a lot of them were today.”

He got ahead of Ortega 1-and-2 but a sinker stayed up and Ortega slugged it over the fence for his second big-league home run in 114 games.

Eight of the 10 runs May has given up in his four big-league games have come in the sixth inning – the last inning of his three starts and the first of Sunday’s two-inning relief appearance. But Roberts said without hesitation that May will continue on in a relief role, acknowledging that the Dodgers’ 18-game in the NL West affords them the luxury of experimenting.

“It does. Credit to our guys. We’ve put ourselves in this situation,” Roberts said. “Ultimately, you’re focusing a little bit — not trying to get too far ahead of things — on how you win 11 games in October. Dustin really hasn’t thrown out of the ‘pen other than spring training probably. To run the play out, check a box, let him get familiarity with it — it’s a good thing.

“He’ll throw a bullpen in a couple days and we’ll get him back in the ‘pen and we’ll continue to grow.”

The Braves were also taking the long view in the weekend series, in a different way. To them, taking two out of three from the only team in the NL with a better record was a positive sign about a potential playoff matchup. But Roberts dismissed any attempt to paint the series as saying anything bigger about the two teams’ relative positions.

“No, I don’t think it does and I think our players feel the same way,” he said. “It was a good series. … They played well. That was fun. But as far as a barometer, I don’t think it was. We lost a series to a good ballclub.”

Bill Plunkett has covered everything from rodeo to Super Bowls to boxing (yeah, I was there the night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off) during a career that started far too long ago to mention and eventually brought him to the OC some time last century (1999 actually). He has been covering Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register since 2003, spending time on both the Angels and Dodgers beats.

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